Parade Projects Completed

The team started and finished a wide variety of projects today. From the float to programming to building small parts, the team had the usual fun attitude and hard work ethic it takes to accomplish our goals.

Bydlon volunteered for some games during the school's Pep Fest today. So he was covered in chocolate sauce and whipped cream when the team met. He went home to change. While that happened, Kacy and Carson went to get more duct tape and tissue paper to finish the float. Then, they proceeded to cut the tissue paper and streamers to fit on the float. It was a tedious but necessary job.

Alicia, Taylor, Brandon, Gabe, Jesse, Kacy, and Carson worked really hard on the float today. Kacy and Carson taped up all the streamers along the bottom of it. Kacy also decorated the chair that Molly will be sitting in. Alicia, Brandon, and Taylor especially worked super hard on the tissue paper stuffing today. Luckily, more hands make less work. We finished the float and it looks so good!! This paragraph seems really short considering how long they worked, but it was a very repetitive process. GREAT WORK EVERYONE!

Allen worked on many different programming issues. The biggest and coolest project he finished was that we can drive both our robots with a wireless xbox controller!!! AWESOME! This is convenient for Murphy especially. We will use this in the parade tomorrow. Also, with Bydlon's help, Murphy is now wireless too which is good. Allen fixed a bunch of issues with programming. Murphy is done in Java, Rover is less sensitive and thus safer to drive. Allen did fantastic work today. So much progress!

Bryce, Brandon, and Bydlon worked on a bunch of random projects. The first one was to secure the laptop stand to the harness. Zip ties came in handy (they are the duct tape of Robotics). The steel rods we made yesterday worked exactly like we planned. The harness didn't stop there... Brandon, Bryce, Allen, and Bydlon worked together to make a stand for the xbox controller. IT LOOKS SO COOL! Check out this YouTube video to see it in action. Brandon and Bryce put a basketball hoop on the back of the trailer for the parade. They also hung up the flag. A project that Bryce and Bydlon worked on was a tower for Rover. We are going to network wire up the robots tomorrow to prevent interference. Because Rover can spin and stuff, the wire gets complicated. So we built a tower to keep the wire under control.

After working so hard and accomplishing so much, the team needed to unwind. So we all played Rock Band for a couple hours. Super fun and good team building. Can't wait for the parade tomorrow!! Team members report at 11am to the back of JHS. Everyone else, watch us in the parade starting at noon!

Float-ing On Air

Today was, yet again, spent preparing for the Homecoming Parade. The parade is Saturday at Noon on Broadway in Alexandria, MN. Come check it out!! The team accomplished so much today!! Wow! Click on any picture to see a large version.

As usual, the team met in Bydlon's room to begin. We discussed our ideas for a West Central MN FRC Get Together. We would like to host many of our other regional teams to gain more knowledge and make some bonds with teams close by. Then everyone learned their jobs for the day.

Molly and Bryce went to Menard's to buy plywood for the "stage" on our float. Rover will be on the float with Molly and we want everyone to see Rover so we made a stage out of chip board and palettes. Brandon and Bryce worked on making the whole stage. It looks great! Molly and Bryce also picked up some steel rod to make a harness for our drive station. Molly took it over to Alex Tech and they made the steel rods into mounting brackets. Look Ma, NO HANDS!

Allen was alone today programming but made a TON of progress. Gabe brought in an XBox controller for Allen to start programming with. It will replace the joysticks we have used in the past. Allen also worked on the programming for Murphy (Rover programming is complete in JAVA). He got the drive train working and the fly wheel. Spike relays were causing problems so Bydlon switched the conveyor into a Victor controller. And it worked! Allen even got the fly wheel and conveyor speed to be adjustable. WOW! Great job Allen!

Kacy, Alicia, Taylor, Gabe, Vincent, and Carson worked insanely hard on getting the trailer transformed into a float for the parade. THEY DID SUCH AN AWESOME JOB! It is incredibly tedious work putting all the tissue paper into the chicken wire and streamers on the trailer. But they had a positive attitude and worked hard. Bydlon tried to help with the tissue paper but didn't do a very good job. Oops. The decorations look soooo good! All that's left is the other side of the trailer and we are done. Kacy worked on the back ramp part of the trailer. It looks great too!

Eddie and Jesse worked on making Rover all pretty. They hid the nasty wires that were cluttered all over the top of it. Black wire covers are awesome.

The team worked so hard today and did such a fantastic job. Our float is going to kick everyone else's float out of the water!